//------------------------------// // training day // Story: Journey of the Noble Dragons // by closet brony 77 //------------------------------// “Uh Artair, Are you okay?” said Griffith, gazing at his little brother’s position on the floor. Spike hadn’t gotten off to a good start this morning. The comforting warmth that the bunk beds had provided after a week of sleeping on cold, hard ground had tricked his body into thinking that he was resting in his own bed back home and therefore his subconscious thought there was more room on the sides where there clearly was none. All of these combined factors brought us to the here and now where Spike had rolled out of his bed and face planted onto the floor below in an almost comical fashion. “I’m fine” mumbled Spike “this isn’t the first time I’ve fallen down like this and it won’t be the last”. Spike quickly dusted himself off, knocking away some of the trash pieces that had gotten stuck to his body. “Anyway what’s are we gonna do today?” “Actually nothing, as weird as that sounds.” replied Griffith, hopping out of his bed. “We’ve spent all week on the run like criminals, it’s strange to finally get some peace and quiet for once.” “Eh who’s complaining? Maybe I can catch up on some lost sleep.” said Spike, stretching his arms and wings out. “I hear that bro, which reminds me I need you to take this.” said the inventor, holding out a small red pill. “What is it?” “Just a little something I whipped up, it’ll keep anymore unwanted messages from your pony friends from coming through, don’t ask me how, just know that it’s perfectly safe for you.” Spike grabbed the pill out of Griffith’s hands and threw it into the back of his throat, wincing slightly at the taste “tastes like old shoe rubber.” “Well how about we get some breakfast to chase that bad boy down? Mia makes a mean gem omelette.” As if on cue, a tantalizing aroma began to drift into the room, taking refuge in the brothers’ nostrils. A goofy smile quickly grew on Spike’s face and he began to drool, virtually hovering off the ground as he let the scent take him away. Griffith simply shook his head and laughed. “Just like the first time I got a whiff of that stuff, no clue how Mia does it” said Griffith, following his brother down the hallway. When they reached the onboard mess hall, the pair found that the rest of the group was already waiting for them there. “Well look who finally decided to join the land of the living” cracked Crystal. Griffith shot the jokester a look “hey we’ve had a rough couple of days, I think we’ve earned a few more hours of rest.” “Excuses excuses Griffith” said Dylan tossing a bit of bacon into his mouth. “But I’ll let it slide if Artair here can explain himself.” “Me? What did I do? We’ve only talked once!” Spike said in bewilderment. “It’s not what yer doing, it’s what ya ain’t doing.” Dylan said, holding up another pork strip “do you really think that I’m gonna accept that the son of Frinad is some veggie drake like Connor over there?” The yellow dragon then turned to Connor “no offense of course.”, the plantmancer shrugged and waved him away. “Well so what if I don’t eat meat? What’s the big deal?” replied Spike. “The only thing that’s big about this is the shoes you’ve gotta fill, you’re the lost prince of the Vlemm enclave for Bahumut’s sake! If you don’t eat some meat at least once in a while you’ll never get the build to match yer reputation.” spouted Dylan, taking another bite of his breakfast “do you really wanna be a whelp for the rest of yer life” Saphria then slapped the back of Dylan’s head hard “okay that’s enough Dylan, what Artair puts inside of his body is honestly none of your business; it’s his body after all.” “Hey I’m just saying, meat is an important part of a growing dragon’s diet. Heck maybe that pony diet that’s he’s been kept on is why he’s been so small all these years.” “Dylan seriously, lay off.” said Connor “I never ate any meat growing up and I turned out fine. Besides it’s nice to meet a dragon with the same tastes as me.” Mia then popped up out of seemingly nowhere and threw a steaming hot omlette in front of Spike, the various gems mixed in gleamed in the light. “As long as he likes my cooking, I say let the little guy eat whatever he wants.” Yam finally pulled her gaze away from the book that she was reading to shoot Mia a look “Mia, you know that the aura that gave you lightning fast speed also gave you a metabolism to match, you could eat whatever you wanted without any negative effects; I’m not exactly sure that you are the right dragon to give dietary advice.” “Hey I never hear any complaints from you when you’re stuffing your face with my fried peanut butter banana sandwiches.” Mia said as she turned towards the stove. Yam quickly averted her eyes “no comment” After Saphria swallowed another bite of her omelette she spoke up “Dylan does have some sort of a point though.” “He does?” said Spike “Well not about the meat of course, but about your heritage. Your family is one of the oldest families that exists on the Vlemm enclave and definitely the most well known, they were at the head of the great struggle that happened countless years ago, every dragon on the Vlemm enclave has the uttermost respect for them and consider their word to be law.” “So do we Saphria” Dylan interjected. “Regardless, because you’re their first born son you’ve got a lot of expectations on your shoulders, a tall legacy to live up to and all that.” said the ninja “and with all the close calls we’ve had over the past few days we might want to consider starting your training early” “What kind of training?” “The one your parents are planning on putting you through, to mold you into a proper prince. Thankfully, those ponies already did half the work for us considering you’ve managed to befriend the changelings and those...feral lizards.so you’ve got the diplomacy part down pat, but I’m guessing you’re more of a lover than a fighter?” Spike opened his mouth to object, to defend his masculinity if nothing else, but as he thought about it he quickly realised anything he said would only make him seem like even more of a baby like it always did with twilight and her friends. So he snapped his maw closed again as his cheeks began to burn red. “Thought so. After breakfast meet me in the training room for your first combat lesson.” said Saphria. “But I don’t-” “Down the hall, up the flight of stairs on your right, third door on the right, don’t be late.” Saphria droned to the point of where it sounded rehearsed. “I’d do what she says big bro” said Griffith “last time I tried to skip out on training she dragged me there by my tail.” Spike wanted to argue, say that he had no reason to need to defend himself from his friends; but then again this was Twilight and her friends they were talking about, they tended to be a bit aggressive when something got between them and somepony they really care about, especially Pinkie Pie, Not to mention the royal guard they would inevitably send out. Spike could run sure but not forever, in a footrace they’d catch up eventually. Mulling it over in his head for a bit, Spike decided learning a few ways to defend himself couldn’t hurt. “Alright fine, better now than later I guess.” said Spike Saphria gave a slight smile, although on her it looked more like a smirk “good to hear it. Although you really didn’t have a choice in the matter, see you in a few minutes” Saphria pushed away from the table and sauntered off into the ship, leaving Spike wondering what in the name of tartarus he has just gotten himself into. ************************************* “What in the name of tartarus have I done” groaned Starlight. She knew showing Thorax and Ember that note was a mistake, she knew that they’d flip out when they read it, they knew that they’d be just like Twilight and she showed them it anyway. Why does she keep making bad calls like this? It always ends up makes things worse… Right now she was galloping after Thorax and Ember as they ran back towards the dining room that Twilight was in. The moment they had finished reading the letter they had jumped up from their chairs with a look of stubborn determination that was all too familiar to here and they ran out of the room, Starlight quickly realized they were going to offer Twilight their help in tracking down Spike; naturally starlight had no choice but to run after them in an attempt to stop them from throwing more gas onto the fire. But as much as she shouted after them, they paid no attention and kept running. Starlight let out a huff of frustration and decided for forgo common sense and just teleport in front of them at the risk of being bowled over, thankfully for Starlight the pair of royals skidded to a stop in front of her just inches away from a full on collision. “WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME FOR ONE SECOND?!!” shouted Starlight “Are you kidding me? Are you actually going to try and talk us out of looking for Spike?!” Thorax yelled, trying to push past the former villain “what is wrong with you?!” Starlight shoved the changeling back in retaliation “just hear me out! Then you can do whatever you want!” For a moment the two appeared to be considering if it was worth just pushing through Starlight but decided against it. Justified or not, they’d probably break some kind of law by doing it. “Fine, but make it quick” Ember huffed out. Knowing that she wouldn’t get into another shoving match, Starlight’s stance quickly relaxed. “Thank you. Now I know you guys want to go all mother hen on him like Spike is some baby chick but we both know he’s tougher than he looks.” starlight turned towards Ember “I mean he won the gauntlet of fire, right?” Ember nodded, Starlight had her there. “And Thorax, he risked his entire reputation in the Crystal Empire to protect you. That’s gotta show some level of maturity right?” Thorax blushed, how could he forget that day. It was possibly the best day of his life so far. “I know it may seem a bit unnerving that he would just up and leave like this but he’s a big dragon on the inside, one who can make his own choices. As his friends we should respect those choices as long as he isn’t in danger, those dragons may be a bit rough but it seems like they’d give their lives for each other, isn’t that enough? Can’t we just leave them alone?” Ember frowned, Starlight did make a good point; several good points in fact. But….as dragon lord she still had a duty to herself, her friend, her subjects, and her ancestors. She couldn’t let this go, even if she wanted to. “Starlight, I’m sorry but even if I didn’t want to chase after Spike I still have to as the dragon lord. What’s happening right now is bigger than you, bigger than Spike, bigger than all of us and because of it I have to go after him.” Ember ducked past Starlight and continued on her route towards Twilight. Starlight looked back at Thorax with a pleading look, one that said ‘please tell me I at least got through to you’. “Starlight….I….I know what you mean but it doesn’t change anything. Spike is my best friend, almost like a brother to me and I’d do anything to protect him. Even if he is mature on the inside he’s still a baby dragon on the outside and it’s too dangerous for him out there, heck for all I know those dragons could be under the control of Chrysalis, sorry Starlight but I have to do this.” replied the changeling king with a forlorn expression. Thorax then spread his wings and flew past starlight in a lime green blur, leaving the princess’ protege standing in the hall all by herself. “Oh for the love of….wait, what did Ember mean by ‘bigger than me and Spike’?” starlight said to nopony in particular. ************************************* “So what are you gonna teach me?” asked Spike After polishing off three delicious gem omelettes, somehow Mia had found the perfect balance between rubies and emeralds to make the perfect omelette, Spike had wandered his way into the training room. To be blunt, it was far more impressive than Spike expected it to be: there were at least half a dozen workout machines scattered around, dumbells that ranged from as big as his arm to twice his size, and punching bags crudely shaped to resemble several different species like griffins, yaks, ponies, and of course dragons. Saphria was standing in the center of it all, wrapping bandages around her knuckles; the dragoness had traded her ninjitsu getup for a simple scale-tight tank top and sweatpants clearly made for workouts. “You’re too small to do any real offensive damage so we’ll focus more on learning how to avoid getting hit as opposed to actually hitting someone.” Saphria said, tearing off the end of the gauze “I doubt that Twilight or any of her goons are going to go easy on you from now on.” “Hey I resent that! They’re really nice when you get to know them” Spike said in protest Saphria glared at Spike “getting attacked by a pegasus and beaten senseless by an earth pony doesn’t exactly leave a good impression Artair, which is a shame because under different circumstances we might have actually been friends but what’s done is done.” Saphria then assumed a combat stance, “first lesson is high blocks, you’re gonna be using this alot against taller opponents and anyone who swings at your head.” Without any further warning, Saphria did just that. Spike yelped and narrowly managed to duck under the blow, feeling the wind off the strike pass by his head fin. “Excellent dodge Artair, but you’re supposed to block the attack not evade it.” “Well what do you expect? I’ve never gotten in a fight in my life!” Saphria pinched the bridge of her nose “oh Bahumut, how did you ever win the gauntlet of fire? Alright so here’s what you want to do.” The ninja kneeled down to Spike’s level and grabbed one of his arms, lifting it up so that his elbow was at eye level and hand above his head. “This this right here, when someone swings at you from above you’ll want to throw your arm up like this and block it; if it helps, pretend like you’re reaching onto a high shelf to grab something” said Saphria “So like shelving at a library?” Saphria nodded “now I’m going to swing again and this time I want you to block it, stand strong and don’t doubt yourself.” Spike nodded and readied himself in a similar battle position to Saphria, repeating the words ‘just like reshelving day, just like reshelving day’ over and over in his head Saphria threw out another side swipe towards Spike, to her pleasure the dragon immediately threw up his arm and caught her blow mid way in the air, stopping it dead in its tracks. Spike felt a sense of pride wash over him, he already had the muscle memory down pat (he had to remember to thank Twilight for all those hours she made him spend working the shelves in the golden oaks library), however those feelings of accomplishment quickly gave way as intense pain shot up his arm and Spike instantly clutched the limb and started shouting in pain. “OH SWEET CELESTIA THAT BUCKING HURT!!!! OWOWOWOW!” screamed Spike, jumping up and down. “Wow, you are soft. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, normally I’d make you do the other arm to balance it out but you’ll need at least one functioning limb to do the next exercise: escapes.” Soon enough the pain subsided to manageable levels and the baby dragon looked back up at Saphria in puzzlement. “Basically how to get away when someone or something grabs you and let’s be honest, with how small you are that’s probably going to happen a lot” said Saphria. “What? No it’s not! I’m not that small!” shouted Spike Saphria rolled her eyes at the little squirt and quickly scooped him up into her arms and held him there like a baby, before turning him around and clutching him like a hoofball, then slinging him over her shoulders in a firemans’ carry, and right as she was about to put him into a piggy back position Spike spoke up. “Alright! You made your point, you can put me down now.” “I’m afraid I can’t do that Artair, you’ll have to get out of this hold yourself.” replied Saphria “You’re kidding right?” asked Spike, only to be met with silence “oh man you’re serious aren’t you?” Saphria nodded. Spike started squirming around in Saphria’s arms, trying to slip out but the ninja’s grip remained ironclad on him no matter how much he struggled; in fact Saphria appeared quite bored by his efforts. But it was at that moment spike realised something, while his right arm was locked down tight, his left arm was still free to move around. Quickly coming up with a plant of attack, he karate chopped Saphria as hard as he could in her side; the teenage dragon grunted in pain and loosened her grip enough to give spike the wiggle room he needed, wrenching his arm free he pulled himself over Saphria’s back and flipped over, landing on his feet with a stumble. “Well done.” Said Saphria with a smirk. “Now let’s try a few more holds, then we’ll take another go on defensive moves” “Wait how long are we doing this for?” “Until I say you can stop Artair.” After giving off a quick sigh, Spike walked back up to Saphria and allowed her to lift him off his feet once more in a different grapple. The two went on this for a while, Saphria putting Spike into a wrestling hold and the latter trying (and occasionally failing) to escape from each one; in the times that he failed, Saphria demonstrated how he could have gotten out of it before forcing him to try again. In between that and the beatings his arms took from practicing blocks, Spike was positive this was the hardest he had ever trained in his life and the pain was nearly unbearable; but the thought of becoming stronger, the thought of being able to protect those close to him, that allowed the baby dragon to power on through. After what seemed like an eternity Saphria dropped a panting spike to the floor and said “alright that’s enough for today, you’ve got impressive stamina for your size” “Thanks.” Said Spike between breaths “hey Saphria can I ask you something?” Saphria walked over with two canteens of water, opened one and handed it to Spike. “Sure fire away.” “What exactly do you do on the Vlemm Enclave?” Saphria took a few gulps of her drink and then spoke “oh I’m a member of the Paragons.” “Paragons?” Asked spike “Right, you never grew up on the Vlemm Enclave. Well there’s essentially four levels of defense that keep order on our island as well as protect it from outside threats: the Garda, the Fórsaí, the Sònraichte, and the Paragons. The Garda are the bottom tier, acting as a police force on the enclave where they enforce the rules and laws set forth by your parents and the council, they tend to be armed with extendable bow staffs and non-lethal toxins, most of the time however they only have to settle minor disputes and force is seldom used. Next is the Fórsaí who represent our military might, while armed with traditional weapons like swords and bows that have been enchanted with our own strand of magic and being well-trained in close combat they see very little action as a whole, with the Garda holding up the law, all the Fórsaí ever do is patrol the coast line and battle the occasional sea monster. After them is the Sònraichte, they handle ‘delicate’ matters that only the royal family is allowed to know about, see Artair when our people were banished from the dragon lands all those moons ago, we decided that it would be in our best interests if the world simply forgot about us which is where the Sònraichte came in, they removed every last trace of us from history: books were burned, art destroyed, devices scrapped, and noisy individuals silenced, after a year it was as if the noble dragons never even existed in the first place and that suited everyone just fine, ever since then they’ve been making sure that neither the Vlemm Enclave or the noble dragons are re-discovered but after all we’ve done so far they must be hating us right now” explained Saphria, ending with a laugh that Spike returned. “And then there’s us, the Paragons; we’re the newest out of the four groups but by far the most powerful, the Paragons are specially selected dragons with unique auras and skills that make them stand head and shoulders above all others and are sent out on the more dangerous missions than the other three groups, we even travel into Equestria from time to time for reconnaissance missions” “Which is how you guys found me.” Interjected Spike “Precisely, we check up on the state of affairs in the rest of the world in case there might be anything that could threaten us and sometimes carry out covert operations when necessary. Of course a rescue mission like this is certainly a new one. Anyway, the Paragon’s roster consists of eight dragons who tend to rotate as it’s members age, die in duty, or simply quit and then it’s the next dragon in line, except for Cobalt of course” Saphria leaned in closer “see Artair, Cobalt has been a part of the Paragons ever since it was founded and for good reason; with his dream realm powers he could easily bring the world to his knees, thankfully he’s fiercely loyal to Frinad and Layla as well as the beliefs they preach so he always holds back when using his aura but I’m getting off topic. What you need to know is that me and everyone else you’ve met so far are all Paragons, Yam, Connor, Griffith and Mia are the newest members while Dylan, Crystal, and I have been around longer.” “Huh, that’s actually kinda cool. So you guys are like a superhero group on the Vlemm enclave?” Said Spike Saphria rubbed her chin “when you put it like that…..I guess we are, but that brings me to my next point, something we’ve been meaning to tell you.” “What?” Asked Spike “Well I’ll be blunt: when we get to the enclave you’re going to be reshapen in both body and mind to become the newest member of the Paragons.” Said Saphria. Spike just stared at the ninja dragon, his brain failing to create a single coherent thought after that bomb was dropped on him. Soon enough he finally managed to pull his voice out his throat and speak or rather yell “I’M GOING TO BE WHAT?!!” “See this is why we didn’t tell you earlier…” ******************************** “YOU’RE GOING TO DO WHAT?!!” yelled Twilight Moments ago the princess of friendship cried out all of the negative feelings that had built up in her body and regained her composure, only to jump in the air when Ember and Thorax burst into the dining room; she braced herself for another verbal lashing, but what they told her instead left her dazed and confused. “I said we want to help you find spike.” said Thorax. “We know what’s going on and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to bring him back home.” said Ember, following up. Twilight blinked at the duo “what changed your minds? Before you were screaming at me for answers.” “Starlight showed us the note and you’re right, Spike needs to come home. I know for a fact that those dragons are incredibly dangerous.” said Ember “Well it’s good that you’re both on board with me but there’s just one problem: I have no idea how to find Spike, I’ve tried sending another letter to him but something keeps preventing them from going through and I can’t just have the entire royal guard comb every inch of Equestria looking for him.” said Twilight “I think I might be able to help you out with that” said Ember, motioning to the dragon lord scepter. “One of the many powers of the scepter is that it can locate any specific dragon in the world as long as the user knows them by name, the closer they are to that dragon the more accurate the tracker is; Plus unlike your letters, neither Spike nor any of those dragons will even know it’s happening when I do it.” Twilight’s face broke out into a giddy smile “well then what are you waiting for?! Do it! I’ll tell the rest of the girls to get ready to go”, with that the purple alicorn ran out of the room. Ember looked back at her staff and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to gain focus, the staff began to glow with arcane energy that threw of sparks around her, causing the changeling king to give her a wide berth. Then as soon as it began, the glow cut off and Ember opened her eyes. “Got him, he’s in the deserts just south of here. But… “But what?” asked Thorax “It’s his draconic spirit, Thorax, it’s beginning to fade; like he’s losing touch with his roots, I don’t know what those other dragons are telling him but whatever it is, it’s changing him. We have to leave now, no time to wait for Twilight or the others.” said Ember with concern “Are you sure we could take them on by ourselves? You heard about what happened in Baltimare.” “Just follow my lead and you’ll do fine Thorax. Besides, you took on Chrysalis right?” Thorax gave a determined nod and the two flew out of the castle straight towards a certain small town in the desert known for it’s apple orchard. Right then Starlight came into the room, intent on trying to stop whatever crazy scheme Thorax and Ember had just fed Twilight only to see that the dining table was bare and one of the windows was empty. “Why do I get the feeling things are going to get a whole lot worse very very soon?” said Starlight “also why do I keep talking to myself like this?”